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Having Doctor Who Withdrawals Yet?

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Thinking back to when I started Geekritique up a few months back, I haven’t watched any Doctor Who since. For me, that has to be the biggest gap in Who viewing since… well, since I watched my very first episode! Of course, I’ve been plenty busy in the months since – starting up a new job, starting this blog, keeping up with other shows/movies/projects, and keeping up appearances. Alas, there are not enough hours in the day to give Who the proper viewing it rightly deserves. I do make it a point to keep up to date with what’s happening in the Who community, including news, gossip, rumors and the like, but that does little to sate my waning obsession as it stands. I do make certain to always keep my weekly news roundups up to date with all Who news, if you’re interested. Hopefully this post will serve as a little kick in the butt for me to get back into the TARDIS and relive some of my favorite adventures (and hopefully it’ll stir the same in you).

NEWS ON THE TELEVISION FRONTSome interesting news has popped up for the upcoming 8th Series of Doctor Who just yesterday actually. Following news that Peter Harness would be one of the new writers for the series, it’s been revealed that Hermione Norris has been cast to guest star alongside Capaldi in the episode written by him. The script is said to be “intense and emotional” according to SteMo (Steven Moffat). SteMo also chooses to give us a little tease to whet our spoiler-laden appetites, saying

“for the first time since 1984, the Doctor Who production team is heading to Lanzarote. The Doctor is returning to the scene of an old adventure – but there have been sinister changes since his last visit.”

Some of my older followers may remember that the TARDIS crew first visited Lanzarote (the easternmost of the Cayman Islands) in the 5th Doctor serial, Planet of Fire. I’ve yet to see this story, but it’s certainly on my checklist of things to watch, especially after this news broke. I’m a fan of companion Turlough, and am a big fan of Peri (obviously). My current progress on the classic series below, as seen on Trakt.TV.

NEWS ON THE BIG FINISH FRONTIt’s no secret to some that I have a lot of respect for Big Finish, the company that produces multiple high quality audio dramas every month that feature the original Doctor & companion cast members from the classic series in new stories. I don’t have time to listen to them all unfortunately (there’s about 3-400 of them you see), but I do have the time and money to invest in a few. My favorite title thus far has to be the epic 8th Doctor multi-story story Dark Eyes written by Nicholas Briggs that was released a few years back. After the immense reception for the first installment in the series, they released Dark Eyes 2, and just today it was announced Dark Eyes 3 is on its way!

NEWS ON THE BOOK FRONT Canonicity, or what fans generally accept as fact as apposed to fan fiction, is a touchy subject. Right now it’s a terribly touchy subject for Star Wars fans. But to Doctor Who fans it’s hard to accept that there IS an overarching canon to begin with, as the show itself has (numerous times) contradicted itself. Whether Big Finish’s audio dramas (above) are canon is a hot topic. But the way I see it is that there are so many adventures we never get the chance to see in-between episodes and stories and behind the scenes that it doesn’t really matter if it’s “canon”, so long as it tries its best not to contradict too much of the source material. One particularly unused bit of the Doctor Who lore are the adventures with John Hurt’s War Doctor (the incarnation between Eight and Nine). That’s about to change however. Well, slightly. DWM announced the new Doctor Who novel, ‘Engines of War’.

“The death of billions is as nothing to us Doctor, if it helps defeat the Daleks.”

The Great Time War has raged for centuries, ravaging the universe. Scores of human colony planets are now overrun by Dalek occupation forces. A weary, angry Doctor leads a flotilla of Battle TARDISes against the Dalek stronghold but in the midst of the carnage, the Doctor’s TARDIS crashes to a planet below: Moldox.

As the Doctor is trapped in an apocalyptic landscape, Dalek patrols roam amongst the wreckage, rounding up the remaining civilians. But why haven’t the Daleks simply killed the humans?

Searching for answers the Doctor meets ‘Cinder’, a young Dalek hunter. Their struggles to discover the Dalek plan take them from the ruins of Moldox to the halls of Gallifrey, and set in motion a chain of events that will change everything. And everyone.

NEWS ON THE COMIC BOOK FRONTThe IDW series The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who written by Paul Cornell has received the Hugo Award nomination for ”Best Graphic Novel”. Also, Titan’s new line of Tenth/Eleventh Doctor comics will be released on July 23rd. It’ll introduce the new Tenth Doctor companion Gabriella Gonzalez (or Gabby for short), a New Yorker “stuck in a dead-end job in her family’s laundromat, dreaming of college and bigger, better and brighter things.” She shows chronologically at the end of Series 4, after Donna loses her memory.

8 thoughts on “Having Doctor Who Withdrawals Yet?”

Not seen Planet of Fire? WHAT? Peri’s bikini scenes are almost as famous as THAT shot when the doctor regenerates in Caves of Androsani. Some good extra on the UK release and a special edit version make up for the stories weaknesses.

Oh, good GOD, I’m not a bust man by any means, but despite any number of gorgeous companions over the years, Nicola remains the most gorgeous, hands down (even to this day). And that’s despite JNT’s awful culottes she was forced to wear throughout the run…

I’m commenting not having read your post…I’m a whovian but I can’t do spoilers, not regarding the doctor. You are killing me:) there is nothing I want to do more than read your posts on the doctor…its like trying not to eat that chocolate cake at midnight:)

Nothing big is spoiled regarding the current show in this post, unless you call the casting of an actress and the setting for an episode a huge spoiler. But I appreciate and respect a fan who can control oneself so as to avoid getting spoiled. That’s a strength I do not have.